Working from Home: Health, Wellbeing & Productivity

Working at home has many advantages, with many citing that it has improved their general wellbeing with lower stress and increased job satisfaction, whilst at the same time offering to show an increased productivity. This demonstrates why many have decided to take it upon themselves to start their own home-based franchise or change their working status with their current employer. Working from home also comes with risks, working in an office offers some distractions in the form of other colleagues and well, anything that interest you on the internet, however, working from home has a plethora of distractions, as your home is where you keep all you’re most interesting and entertaining distractions.

To make working from home work for you, you need to ensure that you can keep yourself productive and we have a few tips for you to get started:

Make it structured

One of the first and arguably one of the hardest hurdles to having an effective working from home set up is maintaining the working momentum throughout the day in order to complete the tasks set out. It’s all too easy to take a lax approach to working from home; the odd lie in here and there, elongated breaks and finishing early in the afternoon. Maintaining work hours whilst being flexible can be achieved, however, if you are like many of us, once you take a long break it can be hard to start back up.

We suggest that you set regimented working hours, which will be enough time to get all your task done in that allotted time and try to stick to it as closely as possible. Having structure in your day will keep you on track with work tasks, but it will also improve your wellbeing; if you’re continually working long, late hours, it can have a negative impact on your productivity alongside your health. Keeping to this routine will mean that after your working day, your working day office will switch back to your home, a place for relaxation and comfort, instead of that place that can induce stress.

Remove Distractions

Distractions are everywhere. When tackling a tedious task, which are apparent in most working environments, it is easy to get distracted by the smallest things. When you work from home and can easily just switch on the tv, it makes it much harder to stay focused.

A way to combat distractions in your home is to remove them - we’re not suggesting you sell your more entertaining prized possessions, we are simply suggesting you remove them from your working area. Create a designated, secluded space, preferably a space in your home that you don’t need to visit unless you are working. When you then enter this space, you know that you are going to work; you won’t see anything that will distract you and you can then leave this space at the end of the day and figuratively return home after your working day.

This can be easier said than done as some will find it hard to find the space which can be solely dedicated to work, especially if you’re in a small flat in a city, however any space which you can dedicate will improve your productivity.

Stay Social

Humans are social beings, some crave interaction more than others but generally speaking everyone needs an aspect of socialising in their lives to stop them from going mad. Working from home can be likened to home schooling; some feel increased isolation when they’re unable to discuss ideas with colleagues, ask someone for help with a query or just miss the general outlet of conversation.

As you will likely only speak to people on the phone or the occasional meeting, we would recommend that with your new-found freedom, you use a lot more of your personal time to get out and about. It doesn’t mean you should go out drinking every night with friends, it can be anything from going to a gym with a friend to walking into town for lunch with somebody on a working day.

Staying social will ultimately not just improve your psychological wellbeing but also improve your physical health.

Disciplined

Discipline is one of the major contributors to why some people cannot be successful in a home working environment and you should assess your ability to stay disciplined if you are considering this new lifestyle approach. If you do struggle with keeping yourself disciplined in terms of getting all your work done, then we would suggest you adopt some of these techniques:

Working Attire

When you don’t have to leave your home, and aren’t going to see anybody it is easy to stay in your favourite pyjamas but a study from Dr. Karen Pine, a professor from the University of Hertfordshire, stated that dressing casually can be the direct cause of decreased focus at work.

We aren’t suggesting you put on a tie every morning but having working attire can lead to a change in your mentality so you know when you put this outfit on, you are working.

Family Commitment

Many people choose this style of life because they have family commitments and working from an office just wouldn’t work for them, but they still need to keep a balance between family and work. It is understandable that sometimes you will have to stop work for family commitments but it is recommended that you share your working schedule with your family so they know not to disturb you unless it’s something critical; this should limit distractions and improve your overall productivity.

Technology

The age of computers is here and this has led to many professionals having more than one device, depending on what they do. If you’re able to have separate laptops for work and leisure, this can help you stay disciplined, however it can go further than just laptops. We suggest ensuring that you have every piece of technology you will need for your working life dedicated for work and only to be used for work, this will keep the personal clutter of your working devices but also decrease distractions.

It is understandable that not everybody has this luxury but this approach should be adopted if you are able to.

Here at Start Your New Franchise, we understand the effectiveness of being able to work from home just from the sheer number of franchises available; it is a relatively new way of working which many want to or are adopting. If you think you have what it takes to stay productive and can manage your work life effectively, then check out some of the franchises we have available as many offer working from home as an option – Franchise Opportunities